Summary of Results Concerning "Family Income and Expenditure" and "Savings and Liabilities"(One-person Households)

Released on September 29, 2000

1. Living expenditure increased in real terms for all age groups for men and for all women, with the exception of women in their 30s and 40s

Monthly average living expenditure of one-person households (all households) came to 199,797 yen for men and 177,130 yen for women.

By age group, the figure was 181,842 yen for men under 30 years old and 168,919 yen for women under 30 years old, 174,644 yen for men in their 60s and 181,011 yen for women in their 60s, and 163,835 yen for men aged 70 years or older and 145,532 yen for women aged 70 years or older.

Living expenditure rose from 1994 levels in all age groups for men, posting a nominal growth of (+)4.5% for men in their 30s and 60s who recorded the lowest rate of increase, and a real growth, which excludes consumer price movements, of (+)2.9%. Living expenditure by women in their 30s rose (+)0.1% on a nominal basis and dropped (-)1.5% on a real basis while living expenditure by women in their 40s fell (-)1.7% on a nominal basis and (-)3.2% on a real basis. However, both nominal and real living expenditure expanded in all age groups under 30 years old and 50 years or older.

Figure 1 Monthly Average Living Expenditure and Real Rate of Increase by Sex and Age Group (All Households)

2. The proportion of housing, fuel, lighting and water charges, and transportation and communication expenses is following an uptrend for both men and women

In the case of men, food expenses accounted for roughly 25% of living expenditure in all age groups, making up the largest proportion among the 10 main expense items, except in the 50s age group.

In the case of women, housing, such as house rents, accounted for the largest proportion of about 25% for those under 30 years old and in their 30s. Food accounted for the largest proportion for women in their 40s while "other living expenditure" made up the largest proportion in all age groups of 50 years or older.

A comparison of the proportion of living expenditure items with that of 1994 indicates a decline in food and "other living expenditure" in all age groups for men. The proportion of housing, transportation and communication rose in all age groups other than 60s while reading and recreation rose in all age groups other than under 30 years old. The proportion of fuel, lighting and water charges expanded in all age groups under 70 years old.

In the case of women, the proportion of food either fell or remained unchanged in all age groups under 70 years old while the proportion of clothes and footwear contracted in all age groups. The proportion of housing either expanded or remained unchanged in all age groups while the proportion of transportation and communications was up in all age groups except the 60s. The proportion of fuel, lighting and water charges rose in all age groups except the 50s.

Figure 2 Composition of Living Expenditure Items by Sex and Age Group (All Households)

3. House rent and land rent are higher especially among young women while repair and maintenance is increasing among older people

Men and women in their 30s spend the most on house rent and land rent, followed by those under 30 years old. Since the home ownership rate rises the higher the age group of 40 years or older, disbursements on house rent and land rent become smaller.

Disbursements on house rent and land rent expanded in all age groups for men and women, topping 50,000 yen for the first time for women in their 30s (56,261 yen) and surpassing 40,000 yen for the first time for women under 30 years old (41,063 yen).

Disbursements on repair and maintenance increase as the age group rises, amounting to 10,551 yen for those aged 70 years or older. Compared with 1994 figures, disbursements have climbed in all age groups of 50 years or older.

Figure 3 Amount of Expenditure on House Rent and Land Rent by Sex and Age Group (All Households)

Figure 4 Amount of Expenditure on Repair and Maintenance by Age Group (All Households, Average for Men and Women)

4. Telephone charges surged mainly among young people

Disbursements on telephone charges tend to decrease as the age group rises. In particular, there is a conspicuous age disparity in mobile phone charges.

Whereas women spend more on stationary telephone charges than men in all age groups, men spend more on mobile telephone charges than women in all age groups except the 30s. As for overall telephone charges, women spend more than men in all age groups except the 50s.

A comparison with overall telephone charges for 1994 reveals the highest growth rate for men and women under 30 years old, registering about a two-fold increase. Although the growth rate of telephone charges tends to follow a downtrend as the age group rises, the growth rate tops 70% in all age groups under 50s age group for men. Such disbursements also soared (+)63.4% for women in their 30s and (+)43.1% for women in their 40s. Men registered a higher growth rate than women in all age groups.

Figure 5 Telephone Charges by Sex and Age Group (All Households)

5. Real increase of living expenditure for one-person workers' households of young age (under 30 years old)

Average income amounted to 270,386 yen for men and 230,341 yen for women, growing (+)5.1% and (+)3.2%, respectively, on a real basis.

Living expenditure came to 182,410 yen for men and 168,893 yen for women, advancing (+)4.3% and (+)2.1%, respectively, on a real basis.

In the case of men, food (48,895 yen) was the largest expense item, followed by transportation and communications (36,885 yen), reading and recreation (32,313 yen), and housing (26,571 yen).

In the case of women, housing (40,944 yen) was the largest expense item, followed by food (33,795 yen), transportation and communications (22,353 yen), and "other living expenditure" (21,825 yen).

Of the expense items which had a smaller proportion of living expenditure compared with that of 1974 and 1999, food was the item with the largest decline for men while clothes and footwear was the item with the largest decline for women. As for the items which registered as an increase, transportation and communications showed the sharpest rise for men while housing posted the sharpest upturn for women.

An examination of the proportion of food by expense item shows a drop in the proportion of eating out and an expansion in the proportion of cooked foods and beverages for both men and women.

Figure 6 Trends in Composition of Living Expenditure Items by Sex of One-person Workers' Households of Young Age

Figure 7 Breakdown of Food by Sex of One-person Workers' Households of Young Age

6. In elderly one-person and not-working households (60 years or older), income is falling due to a decline in income other than social security benefits while living expenditure is rising

Income of elderly one-person and not-working households (60 years or older) amounted to 163,911 yen for men and 150,119 yen for women.

Social security benefits, such as public pension, came to 157,385 yen for men (accounting for 96.0% of income) and 134,905 yen for women (89.9% of income).

Disposable income amounted to 153,217 yen for men and 145,748 yen for women while living expenditure was 154,705 yen for men and 156,853 yen for women. Living expenditure exceeded disposable income by 1,488 yen for men and 11,105 yen for women.

Income contracted (-)4.2% on a real basis for men and (-)2.6% on a real basis for women.

Living expenditure edged up (+)1.9% on a real basis for men and (+)3.8% on a real basis for women.

Figure 8 Breakdown of Monthly Average Household Income and Expenditure of Elderly One-person and Not-working Households

7. The proportion of disbursements at convenience stores expanded mainly among young people and the proportion of disbursements at department stores decreased in all age groups

A comparison of the proportion of living expenditure by place of purchase with 1994 figures reveals an upturn in the proportion of disbursements at supermarkets, convenience stores and discount stores in all age groups.

The proportion of department store disbursements fell sharply in all age groups.

As for the proportion of food disbursements by place of purchase, the proportion of convenience store disbursements soared for young one-person households and one-person households between the age of 30 and 59 but the proportion of general retail store disbursements plunged. Among young one-person households, the proportion of convenience store disbursements surpassed that of supermarkets. As for old one-person households, the proportion of supermarket disbursements soared while the proportion of general retail store disbursements plummeted.

Figure 9 Proportion of Food Expenses for Each Age Group by Place of Purchase (All Households)

Table 1 Proportion of Disbursements by Age Group and Item at Each Place of Purchase (All Households)

8. Outstanding savings amount to the 1 million yen mark for young one-person households and to 10 million yen or more for old one-person households

Outstanding savings of young one-person households (under 30 years old) stood at 1.73 million yen for men and 1.56 million yen for women. The ratio of savings to yearly income (ratio of outstanding savings to yearly income) came to 48.0% for men (yearly income of 3.60 million yen) and 54.0% for women (yearly income of 2.88 million yen).

Outstanding savings of old one-person households amounted to 15.42 million yen for men in their 60s and 14.62 million yen for women in their 60s. The figure for persons aged 70 or older was 13.59 million yen for men and 13.07 million yen for women.

A look at the proportion of households by outstanding savings group for young one-person households and old one-person households of 70 years or older shows that roughly 70% of the households fall below the average. In all cases, the distribution of households is uneven, with a great weight on the lower end of outstanding savings.

Among young one-person households, households with outstanding savings of less than 500,000 yen account for roughly one-third of all households.

Figure 10 Outstanding Savings by Sex and Age Group (All Households)

Figure 11 Distribution of Households by Group of Outstanding Savings (All Households)